Government has hinted that it is in no mood to extend time for compliance of stricter emission norms as Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari today asked the auto industry to switch to Euro VI as early as possible.
Gadkari's direction comes at a time when industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has demanded extension of time for compliance to Euro V and VI norms saying compressing the timeframes will result in "the risk of putting an inadequately validated technology on the Indian roads."
"Automobile manufacturers have asked time for compliance of Euro V and VI norms... Pollution is a serious problem. You can not postpone it for long, embrace the new technology and upgrade to Euro VI norms skipping Euro V if possible," Gadkari said addressing SIAM annual convention here.
The industry body will keep seeking extension of time but Green Tribunal, given how serious of the problem of pollution is, are not going to hear any arguments, Gadkari warned the manufacturers and said, the only solution was early compliance of emission norms.
"There are 18 crore vehicles on Indian roads," he said adding that the seriousness of the problem of pollution could be very well understood.
He said the number was growing, while road infrastructure was limited and that is why the government was exploring other options like mass rapid transport system.
Gadkari also said that cleaner fuel meant less pollution and cut in India's huge crude import bills which is to the tune of Rs 8 lakh crore per annum.
Earlier SIAM had cautioned that moving directly to Bharat Stage (BS) VI emission norms, skipping BS V, could lead to major safety compromises in vehicles that could put life of consumers at risk.
According to the industry body, while the BS V and BS VI fuels are basically the same, the vehicular technologies are vastly different and have to be sequentially developed, tested and validated with each stage taking 4 to 4.5 years.
Currently, 33 cities in India follow BS-IV norms on cars while the rest are on BS III stage.
Last month, the government has made it clear that only Bharat Stage IV-compliant vehicles will be sold and registered from October onwards in seven states, and emission standards will come into force in the entire country by April 1, 2017.
With this, only those newly made four-wheeled vehicles, which are complaint with BS-IV vehicle emission standards will be allowed to be registered and ply on roads with effect from the notified dates in the notified areas.
